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PREMIERE: ‘The Future of the Species’ by Henika

Henika flies ahead of her time with her latest release, The Future of the Species, accompanied by whimsical visuals.

Auckland based singer/songwriter, Henika, ruptures the sound waves, to unleash a riveting and colour blasting tune.

The Future of the Species, written from the point of view of a female bird choosing her mate, drips with character and surrealist funk – Henika’s self-directed visuals simply catapult this passion to new heights.

Henika
Photograph provided

The track oozes with vibrant female energy, bouncing in a ’90s hip hop nest.

Henkia spurts lyrics with an infectious fearlessness, her first line being; “I need a damn fine specimen, who can rise up above the rest of them/the bigger the better”. 

Whatever nectar Henika is working off, it leaves you only wanting more. Striking to the core of the track, is the subtle sample of NZ’s native birdsong, recorded by the artist and manipulated as a colourful layer in the tune.

“The lead instrument is a theremin, a hundred-year-old electronic instrument that is played without any physical contact”. 

Each speckle of The Future of the Species is intricately spurred by Henika’s imaginative vision.

Feeding off the avian kingdom, where females dabble in the attractive power of a male having to prove their worthiness for reproduction, the visuals project a whimsical morph between birds and humans.

 

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As the handcrafted paper mache masks are flaunted by the Street Candee dancers, improvising moves to the hip hop beat, Henika is not only flipping a traditional gender trope on its head, but doing so in a genre where misogyny is so rife.

“I wanted the video to look like something somebody taped off the TV on their VCR, and it’s only just been found after 30 years. I set the video in the past so that the ‘future’ the song talks about becomes ‘now’ giving the message a new sense of urgency” she explains.

The track soars as the second single from Henika’s upcoming album, Strange Creatures. 

It is time to nod our heads in respect for Henika, as the natural selector of whimsical taste and flair – with a chorus that lingers in the clouds; “the future of the species is down to us”. 

Check out The Future of the Species below: